NL West

Now Commenting On:

Hairston, Janish moving on from errors

Hairston, Janish moving on

Email

Print

By Mark Sheldon
/
MLB.com |

LOS ANGELES -- Two shortstops made two errors for the Reds Monday that cost them the series opener vs. the Dodgers.

Rookie Paul Janish's throwing error in the bottom of the ninth ultimately led to the go-ahead run scoring in the 6-5 loss. Janish, a late defensive substitution in that game for Jerry Hairston Jr., was the starting shortstop on Tuesday and batting second.

"I've got the kid back in there. It's good to get him right back on that horse again instead of waiting around," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "To tell you the truth, that was a heck of a play he made. Not a lot of shortstops get to that ball."

Janish had to go far to his left for Russell Martin's ground ball, but his throw went into the dugout.

"Sometimes you get errors because you have range," Baker said. "Sometimes you don't because you can't get to them."

Hairston also airmailed a throw into the first-base dugout on a Martin ground ball, which scored two runs in the third inning. He tried to make a moving throw but had trouble handling the ball.

"I just couldn't get a grip on it," Hairston said on Tuesday. "I think I triple pumped. It'd be nice if you could take all day and then find it. At one point, you just have to get the best grip possible and let it go. I hate that it happened with two runners on base. It was my first error. You'd like to go without an error, but that's not realistic."

Both Janish and Hairston are trying to pick up the slack after Jeff Keppinger went on the disabled list last week with a fractured left kneecap. The Reds called up
Janish from Triple-A Louisville for the first time to take Keppinger's roster spot.

A utility player who is batting .315 this season, Hairston has taken the majority of the starts since Keppinger went down, because of his offensive ability. Janish, who has spent his whole pro career as a shortstop, has the better glove.

"I played with Cal Ripken [in Baltimore] my first couple of years," Hairston said. "He said, 'Hey, if you're fortunate to play a long time, you're going to make a lot of errors.' It's just how it is. I have to turn the page, move on and make the next play."

Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.